#population decline

#population decline

People still want children, and the question is why are they not having them? A sense of security is essential for realizing the desire to have children. The succession of crises has prevented many people from turning that wish into reality.

Much of the rebound reflects what demographers describe as the echo boomer effect. Roughly 3.6 million children were born between 1991 and 1995, when births briefly rose after the government in effect ended its family planning policy. That cohort is now in its early thirties, the age at which birth rates are highest. Women in their early thirties numbered an estimated 1.7 million in 2025, up 9% from 2020.

Worried that AI will take your job? Marc Andreessen isn't. The venture capitalist and cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz says the loudest fear around artificial intelligence - that it will wipe out jobs - is aimed at the wrong problem.

For many decades, the Chinese government attempted to limit population growth through a one-child policy - only to abolish the rule in 2016 as it realized that the number of annual births had started to plummet at alarming levels. The aggressive policy - alongside other extreme measures - succeeded far too well, with birth rates dropping a staggering 17 percent between 2024 and 2025 to the lowest level since 1949.

China's birth rate fell last year to its lowest level since 1949, highlighting a deepening demographic struggle for Beijing even as officials roll out new subsidies to encourage couples to have more children. The number of births per 1,000 people dropped to 5.6, the lowest since at least the founding of the People's Republic, according to data released by the National Statistics Bureau on Monday (Jan. 19). The number of newborns decreased 1.6 million, the most since 2020, to 7.9 million.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

New estimates released on Wednesday by Statistics Canada showed that Canada's population fell by 0.2% in the third quarter to stand at 41.6 million, down from 41.65 million on 1 July. It was the only other quarterly decline on record came in 2020, and was attributed to Covid-19 border restrictions. The recent decline, however, is driven largely by a drop in the number of international students studying in Canada after Ottawa pledged to tamp down on the number of study permits issued.

The shift could make African countries among the fastest-growing economies in the world - or create a string of humanitarian crises that may define the start of the next century. By the numbers: Africa will become the world's demographic center of gravity as it more than doubles its population from 2030 to 2100, the U.S. Census Bureau's International Database (IDB) released last week projects.

Not to work specific jobs. Not to invest. Just to be under 35 and breathe their air. Applications open next month and nobody knows about it. The island is dying. Average age hitting 50. Schools closing. Businesses can't find workers. Portuguese kids all fled to Lisbon or London. So now they're paying foreigners to come save their island, and Americans are sleeping on it while competing for $3,000 studio apartments in Austin.

On a clear but chilly autumn day, Poa Pohjola and her partner Wilhelm Blomberg are relaxing in their Helsinki apartment while their baby naps outside on the balcony, in traditional Finnish style. "They sleep very well outside, in colder degrees, I think," Pohjola said with a laugh. "Or, that's how I grew up thinking." Pohjola is 38 and Blomberg is 35. They've been together for about three years, and they started talking about having a baby early on - even though Pohjola had once thought she might never have kids.

Sliwa - who was born in New York City, founded the Guardian Angels in 1979 and says he'll "die in this city" - is the current underdog in the race for mayor. A recently released Quinnipiac University poll found that Democratic Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani leads with 46% of likely voters backing him, followed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo with 33% and Sliwa with 15%.

Russian president Vladimir Putin was caught chatting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping - about the light topic of organ transplants, and how they could let "us live younger and younger, and perhaps even achieve immortality." As ABC News reports, the comments were overheard on a hot mic attached to Putin's interpreter, who was translating his words into Mandarin at a parade in Beijing this week commemorating the end of World War II and showing off fearsome new Chinese military might.

The practice of selling homes for 1 euro to attract residents to remote areas is common in Italy, and is also emerging in France, though less frequently.

In recent years, the declining birth rate has sparked widespread concern among policymakers, prompting discussions about its socio-economic implications and potential long-term effects on society.